The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has guidelines that specify which immunizations are recommended for healthcare workers, including those in dental practices. Immunizing healthcare workers against certain diseases is important because they are potentially at risk of exposure to infectious disease from a patient who may be an active carrier. Employers typically cover the costs associated with staff immunizations. Employers are required to offer and cover the cost of a Hepatitis B vaccination within 10 days of employment.
Different categories of vaccine requirements can exist in the dental practice:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) strongly recommends that all healthcare workers receive the immunizations listed below. More information is available in CDC’s Immunization of Health-Care Personnel: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
Current CDC immunization recommendations for dental health care personnel are detailed in the Summary of Infection Prevention Practices in Dental Settings: Basic Expectations for Safe Care.
It’s helpful to know the antibody status of the practice’s clinical personnel since that information will indicate whether an individual has been exposed to a particular disease. Practices should also maintain documentation that details staff’s post-immunization titer count to detect and measure the amount of antibodies within each person's blood; the amount and diversity of antibodies correlates to the strength of the body's immune response which should be higher after immunization if this information is available. You may want to consider requesting documentation attesting to the titers for clinical personnel who indicate they were previously vaccinated as a way to assure the safety of all personnel and patients.
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